Music in Our Schools

On Monday March 11, Milaca Schools hosted the annual, Music in Our Schools Concert. It is a concert that showcases the musical talent of our school and community! This year, fourth grade was honored with an invitation to perform. We opened the concert. So proud!

Mr. (Andy) Nelson, our high school band director welcomes us

Mrs. Hogan begins the concert, directing fourth grade

fourth grade recorder magic

fourth grade - So proud!

6th Grade Choir - meets one Recess a week

7th and 8th Grade Choirs under the direction of Ms. (Laura) Odden

Mr. Garber's 7th and 8th Grade Band

High School Choir, directed by Ms. Odden

High School Band, directed by Mr. (Andy) Nelson

What is *magical* (that sentimental Ms. Leom can't help herself) about the Music in Our School Concert, is the opportunity to SEE the progress over the years. For Ms. Leom, when she watches the fourth grade perform, then the sixth grade choir, then the seven and eighth graders, and finally the high school band and choirs ... these are HER KIDS! Once upon a time, they stood on the risers as fourth graders ... she watched them try the different band instruments at the end of fourth grade and make their selections ... she heard the excitement and anticipation as they started their band lessons, and now she can enjoy the success that started with recorders in fourth grade. Our school develops *MAGIC* in our students ... one note at a time ... and if you participate ... the MUSIC isn't just IN OUR SCHOOLS ... it is passed on ... shared ... and developed ... making notes ... and looking forward ...

Excavation

The excavation on a new layer of learning began this morning. Students started our new learning by excavating "fossils" (chocolate chips) from "rocks" (cookies).

We had the opportunity to make connections to text. Our discussions included talking about different careers. For some of us, we considered the career possibility of being a paleontologist, until we started excavating "fossils" and realized it was tedious ... for others, we started excavating "fossils" and thought it had possibilities ...  "maybe paleontology ..." Excavating also has many connections to our community, as several community members work in the field of excavation.

After the excavation, we had the opportunity to enjoy a cookie as we checked out the new book we'll be reading.

We wrote predictions about the book.

After we wrote our predictions, we started the read the beginning of the book. The Tyrannosaurus Rex is 15 feet tall and 40 feet long. We have a ten foot ceiling in our classroom, so we imagined a fourth grader (about five feet tall) on top of our ceiling to have a sense of the dinosaur's height. Then we figured if each fourth grader is about five feet tall, it would take about eight fourth graders laying end-to-end to have an idea about the length of a T-Rex. So we went out into the hallway to visualize the length.

Just another morning of learning in fourth grade ... wonder what we'll excavate next!

Thunderblades

On Wednesday March 6th, at 8:30 AM sharp, we boarded the school buses to drive to Thunderblades Roller Skating Rink in Princeton, Minnesota. Fourth grade students needed to complete their weekly reading goal of 115 minutes per week to attend and bring their permission slip.

Ms. Leom was THRILLED! If you asked her about one of her favorite activities as a fourth grader, it was roller skating! She even left her good camera at home, because she was going to be too busy gliding along (avoiding the kamakazi-like speedsters). She missed out on the fun, because all the skates in her size were out on the skating rink year. She snapped some (less than perfect) pictures with her phone ...

Mr. Anderson (5G) shows off his skills

We had to be flexible to make this day happen. A BIG thank you to Mrs. Vickers, the Reading Incentive Committee, and the Milaca PTO who sponsored this Reading Reward.

(Ask your fourth grader to tell you all about the frozen pickle juice ... )

Dennis Warner

Author and songwriter, Dennis Warner visited our school on Monday March 4th.

Two fourth grade students made introductions in Dahlager Theater.

Dennis performed in the style of Prairie Home Companion. He shared songs with us, told stories, encouraged our participation, and shared a message about making our school a safe place. Here are some pictures of our Dennis Warner experience.

We are thankful to Mrs. Vickers and the Reading Incentive Committee for all their behind-the-scenes work for organizing this learning experience!